350 turbo Hydra-Matic; "101"

Just got a 350 turbo trans from a friend for cheap. It's supposed to shift good and all but has one problem. The previous owner said the linkage would lock up to where it only had a couple of gears. He could drop and pan and move the linkage at it would go for quite a while before doing it again.
****QUESTION****
I removed the pan and see where the linkage and gear is located in plain view. Connected to this is a rod which is secured to the "gear". At the end of the rod, opposite to the gear, it is held under a bracket with two screws. With the bracket removed you can see that the rod has a notch cut into it where it catches a spring loaded plate. Like a "parking" lock out. Well, when the rod cathces and locks into place, it locks and cannot be moved at all. Is this a very bad thing? I was hoping to avoid a total rebuild.

No need to reply. I found the problem.